The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-04-08


Forty-eighth additional legislation was
sought TO be passed to give the enemies
of the people more power. The com
mission measure, whereby it was aimed
to govern the Territory by government
commission. was de. Gated. Then fol-
lowed what is known as the Tucker bill,
which aimed to secure the control of the
Territory and the possession of its 6n-
ances; 1T sought to regulate the domes-
TIC affairs of the Territory; this latter
was the motive OF those outside OF Utah.
who had received the CO operation and
aid of rellgiOnists- that was the practice
OF polygamy. Those within the borders
ut the Territory didn't care a rap for
polygamy. Those outside thought that
there was danger of the sur Ounding
territory being corrupted by contact
" t. the AOrmons. False repres ents-
tons had been made to the gov
eminent, and the people had
DE done TO cure iris evil.
Pulpit and press b d been arraigned
against the people of Utah, ard It was
difficult Is get hearing IN the latter's
| Denaif. In all tue efforts made to de-
| feat the anti Mormon legislation these
| powers had to De fought, and 1t he'd
| been hard task The Thicker oil WaS
4 very severe measure, uurepubHCGn,
| un-AmeIican, undamOcratiC ana IN
| constitutional, and came ii Contact
with those principles of seif-gOVern-
ment which have been the boast of
| this country from its birth to the pres
ent time. When the measure was
| brought before the House, en- account
OF the cast-lron rules which governed
that body, II was passed without dis
cnsslon, being, under those rules, IN
| the charge Of the author, who had the
disposal OF it as he thought tit. Amend
ne1ts were not allowed; the arguments
were listened to, bur the whOups ana
yells OF "polygamy! pOlygamy!n and
they twain, the latter cry being sue-
| gested by the reference by one of the
advocates of the bill to the saying of
the Savior, which stated that "they
| oman and womanl twain shall be one
flesh" given vent to like Indian war
whOops, hurried the M asure through
the House. 1t did not pass so unani-
mously as was at first reported, the
opposition vote not being heard in con-
sequence of the confusion which fol-
lowed its passage. In the conference
committee, the bill was shorn of MANY
of its Objectionable features, through
hard work and the blessing of the
Lord, and though it was a hard mess-
ure for the MormOns, it did not give
their enemies any aid or comfort. He
had told the conference committee
that if they would strike out all but the
provision giving the governor the ap-
pointing power the advocates of the
| bill would be perfectly satisfied. 1t was
sad thing to say, but there were men
in Congress who didn't know what the
| hill aetna contained ond ayba
of them were shown the extraordinary
patronage it conferred upon the Gov
ernor they were astounde6. Another
provision was what was known as the
eleventh section, which the Delegate
explained. This clause vas eliminated
by the conference committee. When
completed the bill was not worse
measure for polygamists than the Ed
| munds bill, but provided some Droscrfp-
| tons for those who were non-poiygaTn-
| lists. Its provisions were unchanged for
the worse for the Mormons. In he re-
spect of not compelling the first wife
to testify, it was better than the ola law.
The appeal clause in the original bill
was not put in IA consequence Of the
decision of the Supreme Court Ii regard
to the segregation doctrine. The 1Fis
dom of vetoing the bill was spoken OF,
0AN thO opOohCA SAOuSAL bEdb u WIS
just as we'll as IL was; for If it had been
vetoed. the League would have besieged
the next Congress for more new iegis-
lation.
Delegate Game asserted that while the
government vas in favor of suppress
ing polygamy, there would be no de-
privlng of. citizens of their liberty,
unnecessarily. President Cleveland
did not approve of the extraordinary
measures brought to bear by the adj
illustrators of the law here, and on
one occasion he had expressed himself
to the effect that in the execution of
the law there should be no vindictive
spirit on the part of government. The
question of Utah and her people mad
become better understood at the east.
in consequence of the discussion of the
recent measures, and If it were not for
the acts of the vindictlve enemies of
the people, his constituents would en-
JOY comparative peace under the new
law. There was desire for fairness
among influential men who knew Utah
best. The prospect of robbing the
church OF its property, was referred TO
and the belief expressed that that would
be all right. The test oath has been
talked about, he said. and efforts had
been made to prevent it from inter-
fering with the religious belief Of mem
bers of the church, and it was shown
to the conference committee that efforts
would be made to have that feature so
interpreted as TO affect mems beliefs;
but Mr.. Tucker,himself pooh poohed the
idea, insisting that there was nothing In
it to affect mans belief in the least,
and saying that there were no lawyers
in the Senate but would say so. It
would not affect them, he said, in CON
tributing, by paying tithing. ETC., TO-
ward aiding or abetting.' He had
Noticed, at the first election under the
new law, held in Brigham City, It was
endeaYored to test men as to their
religious belief and conscience, and the
Deleg ate had brought the incident 20
the notice of President Cleveland. 1t
was every mans right to worship or be-
lieve as he pleased. No one had the
right to question his belief. 1t had
been his efforts continued the speaker.
and also the aim of those associated
with him. to inform the people as to
their duties under the new law. He
was pleased that the judges of election
at Brigham City had acted as they had,
and thought repetition of the action
of the registrars would not O cur. Al
though defeated, the Mormon Deople